Waterloo, Canada - The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is pleased to announce the release of a working paper entitled, “ The Asian Economic Revolution and Canadian Trade Policy” by Dr. John Whalley, CIGI’s most recent contribution to its global research on Emerging Economies.
This paper is significant for Canadian policy makers and trade experts regarding the impact that Asian growth could have on the Canadian economy.
The paper discusses the broad orientation of Canada’s trade policy relative to two major historical phases of development based on a secure national market behind the National Policy from 1879 until the 1930s, and progressive integration with the United States (US) through Bilateral Agreements (1930s), the Auto Pact (1965), the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (1987) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (1994).
Currently, Canada exports approximately 85% to the US, but imports from China account for 8% and are growing at 20% a year*. Sharply unbalanced (surplus) trade with the US is counterbalanced by unbalanced deficit trade with China. A scenario of elevated growth in Asia (principally China, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN) poses challenges of relative disintegration from North America and growing global integration centered on Asia. Seemingly a series of implications follow; including positioning Canada within the emerging network of regional agreements in Asia, more resource-based and Western Canada focused trade and infrastructure development, and responding to capital market integration with Asia. Broader issues include the potential adjustments facing Central Canada as Asian imports of manufactures displace both imported manufactures from the US and domestic production are raised.
This Working Paper is CIGI’s latest contribution to research in the field of international governance aimed at policy and decision makers as well as the general public interested in international issues.
About the Author
John Whalley has been a Distinguished Fellow, Economic Governance at CIGI since 2004. He is one of Canada's most preeminent experts in the field of global economics. Currently, he holds a number of academic positions, including Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for the Study of International Economic Relations at the University of Western Ontario, and Professor of International and Development Economics and Director of the Development and International Economics Research Centre at the University of Warwick. He is also the Co-Director of the ESRC Centre for the Study of Globalization and Regionalization (CSGR), a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a former Visiting Fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. His current research interests include globalization and the WTO, development strategies for the non-industrialized world, public finance, the distribution of wealth, taxation policy, and the development of new accounting practices.